Refining methods employed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries produce hydrocarbon fuels and oils that are unstable. Such instability results in polymerization and agglomerations of organic compounds that reduce filterability and clean combustion of diesel fuels and gas-oil. In the case of hydrocarbon fuels, asphaltenes (precursors to heavy hydrocarbon oils) and resins have mechanical affinity for each other and thereby have a tendency to form flocculations or aggregations. As these clusters of large molecules increase in size, they clog fuel filters and can eventually contribute to sludge in fuel storage tanks.
Fuel treatment methods have worked from the premise that filterability problems with diesel fuel were largely due to “bio-fouling” (i.e. microbial activity from fungus, yeast, mold, and aerobic or anaerobic sulfur-reducing bacteria). Although microbial activity plays a role in the deterioration of fuel quality and may contribute to repolymerization, it is not the sole cause of fuel instability.
Magnetic fuel treatment has focused on passing fuel through a weak magnetic field (with flux density of 200 to 500 gauss) for the purpose of improving fuel filtration and alleviating the filter clogging believed to be caused by microbial contaminant build-up. Even though results have shown some improvement in fuel filterability, current methods have not been able to address the larger issues of fuel stability.
Magnetic field flux density varies depending on the magnetic material used, the shape of the magnet, the positioning of the poles, and proximity to the poles. At the atomic level, inductive forces are transmitted to a fluid passing through magnetic flux, producing an orientation effect on polar molecules in the fuel, and thus discourages clustering of paraffins and other long chain molecules, allowing them, as a consequence, to stay in suspension and thus bum more completely. The strength of this effect depends on the direction of fluid flow relative to flux lines, as well as velocity of flow and magnetic flux density. Research and field trials conducted by the inventor have shown that fuel channel design can be altered to optimize the orientation effect beyond that of current treatment devices, thereby producing unexpected improvements in fuel combustion and filterability.
The present invention, in certain aspects, is directed to a fuel treatment device comprising a housing, the housing further comprising an inner compartment, a fuel entry port, and a fuel exit port. The inner compartment includes a substantially circular side wall, a lower floor integral with the side wall, and a raised platform integral with the floor. The inner compartment further comprises a central post integral with and extending from the platform, with the post having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the platform. The central platform, in combination with the circular side wall and lower floor, form a substantially C-shaped groove in the housing. The device further includes a circular magnet housed within the inner compartment, the magnet comprising a central opening sufficiently sized to accommodate the central post. The magnet also includes upper and lower surfaces, an outer side surface defining the circumference of the magnet, and a thickness measured vertically from the lower surface to the upper surface along the outer side walls of the magnet, such that when the magnet is placed within the housing, the post is contained within the central opening of the magnet and the lower surface of the magnet is positioned upon the platform. The device also comprises a cover secured to the housing. The cover has an inner surface comprising a substantially C-shaped groove corresponding to the C-shaped groove of the inner compartment, such that the grooves of the cover and inner compartment, in combination with the outer side surface of the magnet, form a fuel channel through which fuel flows from the entry port and out of the exit port. The fuel channel has an area defined by a vertical cross-section taken through said housing. In this aspect of the invention, the maximum distance between the surfaces of the magnet (i.e. outer side surface and lower surface) and the side wall and lower floor of the inner compartment, respectively, is from about 17% to about 31% of the thickness of the magnet. Moreover, the maximum distance between the upper surface of the magnet and the inner groove of the cover is from about 17% to about 31% of the thickness of the magnet.
In another aspect of the present invention, the fuel treatment device comprises a housing as described above, with the fuel entry and exit ports oriented in registration with one another through opposite walls of the housing and in communication with the inner compartment. Here, the entry and exit ports each have a port area defined by the formula πr2, wherein r is the radius of the two-dimensional circle defined by the ports. The inner compartment comprises a substantially circular side wall, a lower floor integral with the side wall, and a raised platform integral with the floor, the platform having a centrally positioned, substantially circular portion and an arm integral with and extending from the circular portion of the platform. The arm portion is also integral with a portion of the side wall and positioned between the entry and exit ports. The inner compartment further comprises a central post integral with and extending from the platform as described above, wherein the post has a diameter smaller than the platform diameter, and wherein the central platform, in combination with the circular side wall and lower floor of the inner compartment, form a substantially C-shaped groove in the housing. A circular magnet is housed within the inner compartment as described above such that the magnet completely covers the platform, thereby obstructing fuel flow directly between the entry and exit ports when fuel is introduced therein. The device further includes a cover secured to the housing, the cover configured as described above. The fuel channel formed by the respective grooves of cover and inner compartment in combination with the magnet has an area defined by a vertical cross-section taken through the housing. The fuel channel area:port area ratio in this embodiment ranges from about 0.65:1 to 2.5:1.
Other aspects of the present invention, either alone or combination with the features described above, include the inner compartment platform, the platform of the inner surface of the cover, and the magnet being dimensioned such that from about 17% to about 31% of the magnet's upper and/or lower surface is covered by the one or both platforms. Similarly, device is so dimensioned such that from about 50% to about 70%, preferably about 58%, of all of the magnet's surfaces are exposed to fuel flowing through the device. Such designs serve to concentrate fuel flow within the device to areas of greatest flux density for improved treatment thereof. Finally, in certain aspects of the present invention, fuel flow is concentrated within an area of greatest magnetic flux density, the flux density ranging from about 600 to about 1,200 Gauss.